Vehicles of many different types enjoy an enthusiastic following because of their baseline design and style. Many vehicle manufacturers produce special edition vehicles and types, including for example, off-road and higher horsepower models. However, for certain vehicle owners and enthusiasts, special editions are not enough. To be sure, for this cross-section of enthusiasts, aftermarket modifications are very desirable so that their vehicles can be a truer reflection of themselves.
In an effort to modify their vehicles, many aspects of the vehicle may be upgraded or changed. For example, to increase horsepower, the engine may be modified with more robust internals. For aesthetics and improved aerodynamics, different bumpers, spoilers and other body modifications may be performed to the vehicle.
In certain cases, the wheels and tires of a vehicle may also be changed, so as to dramatically change the appearance of the vehicle, and also provide desirable improvements in performance and handling. Consequently, wheels and tires become the foremost target for thieves. Furthermore, upgrading ones wheels and tires to lighter variants is a popular modification as it desirably reduces the vehicle's unsprung weight so as to improve handling characteristics of the vehicle.
Unfortunately, changing one's wheels and tires has a number of drawbacks as compared to the other modifications mentioned herein. For example, as compared to engine performance modifications, one's wheels and tires are more susceptible to theft as they are outwardly visible and easy to remove from a parked vehicle. Indeed, with a simple wrench, traditional wheel and tires may be easily removed from a vehicle in a matter of minutes. Although bumpers and aerodynamics are traditionally disposed on the outside of the vehicle, they are more difficult to remove and often times less valuable than wheels and tires. Furthermore, traditional wheels and tires utilize well-known types of lug nuts, and thus, any thief may purchase a single wrench to remove many types of wheels and tires, independent of the vehicle in question.
Finally, wheels and tires utilize a plurality of lug nuts so as to couple the wheel to the hub of the vehicle. From the vehicle owner or user's perspective, this means that often times, 4, 5, 6 or 8 lug nuts need to be removed from each wheel, thereby requiring an undesirable amount of time and effort to remove a wheel. What is needed, therefore, is an apparatus and a method for a wheel assembly that is configured to improve driving dynamics, reduce theft, and provide faster wheel changes.